Remember, your final exam for Honors World History will be TOMORROW, December 19th. It will cover EVERYTHING we have learned this semester and be worth 15% of your overall grade, so you need to really put in the effort in terms of studying. If your Final Exam Review is complete at the time of your final, it can also help you with some bonus points.

If you’re already done with your final exam review sheet, I strongly, strongly suggest playing the following review game. Please go to http://join.quizizz.com and enter the game code 421441 to quiz yourself over some of the material you’ll DEFINITELY see tomorrow on the final.

Sorry, guys! But we’ve only got a week until the last day of class, and I need to get us through the last sixty-odd years of material. (Also: apologies if there are typos in this; I burnt my hand yesterday and so typing is interesting.) Here’s what I need you to do today:

IF YOU WERE ABSENT ON FRIDAY: you need to read over these notes on the Russian Revolution: The Russian Revolutions. There were six of you absent, and this is critical stuff. Make sure you do this if you were out on Friday, okay?

Please read over these notes on the start of World War II– and don’t skip it because you THINK you know a lot about World War II. Most people don’t know much about the start of the war in Manchuria, and it’s important stuff: Start of World War II.

Once you’ve read all of the notes– and printed them out, or copied them over so that you’ll have them in your notebook– please watch the following Crash Course overview of World War II.

I’ll be working on the assumption that you’ve reviewed this material, okay? I really need you guys to do some lifting on this and be ready for new content tomorrow!

Being as creative and accurate as possible, you are to write a letter from the position of someone involved in World War I during the course of the conflict. You may choose to write from the perspective of a Germany, Austrian, Turkish, British, French, Japanese, Arab, Indian, or American combatant– or any other force involved in the war. You may also choose to write from the perspective of a non-combatant; remember, the home front was extremely important during this conflict, and many people who did not actually fight affected or were affected by the war effort. The only specific requirements for this assignment are as follow:

Your letter MUST be historically accurate. Do a little research before you write, and make sure that any technology you reference is appropriate to the time period. Also, watch your language! Modern slang is not at all appropriate, so keep that in mind.

Your letter should be approximately one page hand-written. You may choose to type your letter, but if you do– remember! The only font available would have been something like Courier New, so consider using it to lend your letter a little authenticity.

Your letter should contain at least THREE specific historical references— these may be to specific battles, military technologies, governmental programs, or geo-political situations which are appropriate to your letter.

If you are feeling particularly brave, you may choose to turn in a piece of war poetry instead of a letter. I’ve included several samples of poetry from this period if you want to go that route. Your poetry has no length requirement, but I do ask that it be earnestly and seriously undertaken. That is to say, no limericks or haikus need apply.

Your letter or poem is due on Tuesday, December 12th. If you have no zeros in your homework category, this will go in as a normal grade for that category. If you do have zeros in your homework category, this grade will be entered in the place of the oldest existing zero, and you will instead be exempt from the normal grade from this assignment. (That is, you will only receive ONE grade for this assignment– you will not be able to erase a zero AND get a grade on this assignment.) You may not use this assignment to replace any zero in a non-homework category.

Here are some materials and links that may help you with this assignment:

I made a bit of a mistake yesterday– or rather, I ran into some difficulties, because the film I planned on showing you today has gone missing. So! You’re going to do a little bit of work for me today that I hadn’t planned on you, but: we are flexible, resilient people. We can roll with the punches.

So here’s what you’re going to do today:

Using the laptop cart, I want you to finish copying the notes on the French Revolution from yesterday. (I know, I know. I’m sorry. But I do need you to at least read over them and make sure you understand them.) The notes are located here: The French Revolution(s). I think we left off on slide 75, so you can skip forward to there. Basically, you need to read over Napoleon’s terrible decisions in Russia, the end of the Napoleonic wars, and then the restoration of the European monarchies.

Once you’ve finished reading through the notes on the laptop, put the computers away– NEATLY– and get a packet from the substitute on the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment. You guys are going to do some more detailed work on that today, since we sort of skimmed over it last unit. If the substitute needs to make copies of the assignment– which might happen, because I’m springing this on them at the last minute– you can always use the digital file here to get started until they have enough copies: Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution. Follow the instructions on the packet, read carefully, and turn in your work at the end of class. If you’re not done, please take it home and turn it in first thing tomorrow morning.

Thanks for being patient, guys. Tomorrow won’t be as scattered– the DVD didn’t go missing for that one, so you’ll watch a documentary tomorrow. And don’t forget– your vocabulary is due on Friday, and you’ve got a quiz that day, too!

After reading and analyzing your documents today, hopefully you have a better understanding of what Mongol life was like– to those who lived within the culture, and for those who were subject to conquest. Using the information we talked about in class today, please write a short (very short!) answer to the following question: Were the Mongols beneficial to world history? Why or why not? Make sure to use evidence, rather than simple opinion in your answer.

If you would like to look over the documents we discussed in class before making your response, you can find them here: Mongol Documents.

Additionally, you may find it helpful to watch the following Crash Course video on the subject:

Today, you’ll be working in small groups to gather information on the following Chinese dynasties: the Sui, Tang, Song, and Yuan. Use the following PDF to help you find information on the economic, societal, and political aspects of each period of Chinese history. You’ll need to find at LEAST three to five important facts for each dynasty.

In this project, you will work together with your group to research the Native American cultural groups and their histories associated with one of SIX geographic regions. You will display your information on a large poster (or mural), and on Friday, September 22nd we will have a gallery walk to gather information as a class.

This assignment is a project grade, and will be evaluated based on how accurate and detailed your information is, and how well you convey the information to your colleagues. You can find the instructions for this assignment below:

If you didn’t finish your classwork today, remember that you’ll need to have your comparative chart on Medieval African polities completed by the start of class tomorrow. Your chart should include one good, important characteristic for each of the major political organizations and regions we’ve studied during this unit.

Remember that when we talk about society, we’re thinking about things related to class structures, families, kinship groups, gender roles, and other ways people organize themselves.

I appreciate the number of you who showed up today; those of you who stayed home to watch the eclipse, please make sure you’re ready for class tomorrow by having your Unit Two vocabulary completed, and being ready for an in-class quiz. Additionally, you’ll want to review the material below and be ready to start of running.

Today in class, we will be examining a number of Classical era religions and belief systems:

Zoroastrianism

Hinduism

Buddhism

Daoism

Confucianism

Judaism

Christianity

You will receive an information gathering sheet on these various belief systems (Comparative Belief Systems Chart), and will then use the PowerPoint below to collect the relevant information.